Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics: Happiness

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From pursuing pleasure to avoiding pain, life seems to ultimately be about achieving happiness. However, how to define and obtain happiness has and continues to be a widely debated issue. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his view on happiness. Aristotle focuses particularly on how reason, our rational capacity, should help us recognize and pursue what will lead to happiness and the good life.';(Cooley and Powell, 459) He refers to the soul as a part of the human body and what its role is in pursuing true happiness and reaching a desirable end. Aristotle defines good'; as that which everything aims.(Aristotle, 459) Humans have an insatiable need to achieve goodness and eventual happiness. Sometimes the end that people aim for is the activity they perform, and other times the end is something we attempt to achieve by means of that activity. Aristotle claims that there must be some end since everything cannot be means to something else.(Aristotle, 460) In this case, there would be nothing we would try to ultimately achieve and everything would be pointless. An ultimate end exists so that what we aim to achieve is attainable. Some people believe that the highest end is material and obvious (when a person is sick they seek health, and a poor person searches for wealth).
Most people think that the highest end is a life of pleasure. Hedonists have defined happiness as " an equivalent to the totality of pleasurable or agreeable feeling.';(Fox, 3) Some pleasures are good and contribute to happiness. Not all ends are ultimate ends but the highest end would have to be something ultimate; the only conceivable ultimate end is happiness.
Happiness is perhaps the only clear ultimate end. Happiness is what we strive for by itself and not to get anything else. "So it appears that happiness is the ultimate end and completely sufficient by itself. It is the end we seek in all we do.';(Aristotle, 461) Mans' good is related to his purpose; the purpose of a man involves the actions of his soul (the soul being a part of his reasoning). By carrying out the activities of his soul and doing so with proper excellence and virtue, man is able to reach a desirable end.
Virtue, then deals with those feelings and actions in which it is wrong to go too far and wrong to fall too short but in which hitting the mean is praiseworthy and good….

Aristotle’s work, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of numerous books pertaining to Aristotle’s Ethics—the ethics of the good life. The first book discloses Aristotle’s belief on moral philosophy and the correlation between virtue and happiness.
The definition of happiness has long been disputed. According to Aristotle, happiness is the highest good and the ultimate end goal—for it is self-reliant. This idea contradicted other common beliefs and philosophical theories. Aristotle opens his work by

In the Philosophical work, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes claims about happiness being the highest aim and end at which all human activity is directed. He states that happiness is a supreme good, and therefore should be considered the ultimate goal of every action undertaken by an individual. This assertion regarding happiness as a final end, proposes the question, how can a person define and obtain happiness? Aristotle attempts to use his theory of ethics to address this question. His perspective

the author of The Nicomachean Ethics, attempts to explain the aim of human beings by using an empirical approach. In other words, he makes an effort to use scientific observations of the physical world to explain why humans act a certain way to reach the goal of happiness. Their specific action, or unique function as Aristotle says, is the using of reason. This reason seems to be part of every human being and according to Aristotle, if it is used well, then we will achieve happiness. Aristotle seems

In consideration to Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s view of the great-souled man is that of an individual that represents happiness and obtains the five virtues: wisdom, justice, bravery, self-control, and the overall goodness within an individual (happiness). The magnanimous person is very complex and displays the proper virtues at the proper time, and in the proper way. In addition, the great-souled man accommodates to his surroundings where he is honorable but not boastful in his actions. Aristotle

Humans, throughout recorded history, have searched for a proper way of living which would lead them to ultimate happiness; the Nicomachean Ethics, a compilation of lecture notes on the subject written by Greek philosopher Aristotle, is one of the most celebrated philosophical works dedicated to this study of the way. As he describes it, happiness can only be achieved by acting in conformity with virtues, virtues being established by a particular culture’s ideal person operating at their top capacity

Aristotle and the Book of Nicomanchean Ethics
In Book I of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that the ultimate human goal or end is happiness. Aristotle then describes steps required for humans to obtain the ultimate happiness. He also states that activity is an important requirement of happiness. A virtuous person takes pleasure in doing virtuous things. He then goes on to say that living a life of virtue is something pleasurable in itself. The role of virtue to Aristotle

virtue and chance contribute to happiness?
Happiness has been subject to debate for centuries. What is happiness? What does happiness consist of? What contributes to happiness? Among many others, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the school of Cyrenaics, prominent ancient Greek philosophers, have greatly contributed that virtue, which is excellence of a certain part, and chance, which consists of any event outside of human control and prediction, may play a role in happiness. After analyzing the works

Virtue Ethics is an important topic to study, because it is Aristotle’s view on the way we should all be living our lives. This topic is also important because it allows a person better understandings on how to be a good and responsible human being. Virtue Ethics teaches people how to make the best decisions in life. Nicomachean believed that to be virtuous a person had to have the habit of behaving in moderate ways. Aristotle states that “it is clear that none of the moral virtues are engendered

Happiness is a term that typically has different definitions. Some define happiness, as the things one possess; others may define it as doing a good deed and the feeling one has after doing a good deed. Merriam-Webster defines happiness as, “a state of well-being and contentment” . Even Aristotle acknowledges that everyone disagrees on the definition of happiness because we all have a different thought-process and prior knowledge. Even though there are many definitions to happiness, both Aristotle

In the work, Nicomachean Ethics, the philosopher Aristotle creates a guideline for those who are serious about pursuing happiness. Aristotle's recommendations for finding happiness are not accepted today without some struggle and careful examination. In Aristotle's time, slaves, women and children were not truly considered human; so in many cases the philosopher is directing his words towards free males only. It is necessary to understand that by overlooking this discrimination and applying it to